Tagovailoa Becomes Big Ten’s All-Time Leading Passer In Terps’ 42-24 Win - University of Maryland Athletics (2024)

LIA LEGEND!!

Taulia Tagovailoa is the Big Ten's All-Time Leading Passer! pic.twitter.com/lFvwtv8cxs

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) November 25, 2023

The Terps scored on their first four possessions of the game, for their best start to a game this season.

Tai Felton had a career-high 140 receiving yards on five catches, including a 34-yard touchdown.

Jeshaun Jones became the eighth Terp ever with 2,000 receiving yards in a career as he now has exactly 2,000 with 70 yards on four catches on Saturday.

On the ground, Roman Hemby ran for 113 yards, his sixth career and second game this season with 100-plus yards. He also had five receptions with a receiving touchdown.

The century mark for Mr. Hemby!#TBIA pic.twitter.com/a4Bknds2CE

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) November 26, 2023

On defense, Dante Trader Jr., led the Terps with a career-high 11 tackles. Glendon Miller had an interception.

All-time Maryland has scored 40-plus points in four Big Ten road games, all of them have come at Rutgers.

Rutgers is 6-6 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.

Coach Locksley's Takes

"Really, really proud of how these guys finished. Really proud of this team. All three phases contributed today in some fashion. For our seniors to be able to leave with the type of resume they have, they can leave here knowing they played a major part in the vision of what we wanted our program to look like coming to fruition. Really proud of the leaders in that locker room. Third-straight seven win season. You can't take winning lightly. Winning is hard, especially in the Big Ten."

"Have to also congratulateTaulia Tagovailoa for breaking the record today and leaving Maryland as the all-time leading passer in the history of the Big Ten, which is a huge feat when you think about the type of quarterbacks who play in this league. He'd be the first to tell you that he didn't do it alone; he's had a bunch of teammates along the waythat have contributed. But for a guy who came here under the shadow of a huge last name to make his own mark not only at Maryland, but also in the Big Ten, I think that speaks volumes about the type of character he has. We're really proud about what he's done to help elevate this program."

Breaking Down The Action

• Maryland took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards culminating with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Tai Felton for a 7-0 lead. After stopping Rutgers on a fourth-and-two to gain possession, Maryland struck again with a 49-pass play to Jones followed by a 6-yard rushing score by Tagovailoa for a 14-0 advantage. After a Jai Patel 50-yard field goal for Rutgers, the Terps came right back with their third score in as many possessions as Hemby scored on a 17-yard screen pass from Tagovailoa for a 21-3 score at the end of the first quarter.
• The second quarter started similarly as Tagovailoa hit Dyches for a 44-yard touchdown on the first play of the Terps' fourth drive of the game. That put the Terps up 28-3 with 12:07 in the first half. Rutgers scored its first touchdown of the game as Aaron Young caught a 10-yard pass from Gavin Wimsatt to cut the score to 28-10 with 6:43 left in the half. The Scarlet Knights capitalized to make the score 28-17 with 1:57 left in the first half on a Wimsatt 1-yard carry.
• Maryland took a 35-17 lead on a Billy Edwards 1-yard plunge with 9:19 left in the third quarter. That was his fifth rushing touchdown of the season and fourth in the last two weeks.
• In the fourth quarter, Rutgers' Wimsatt scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to bring the Scarlet Knights within, 35-24 midway through the period.
• Billy Edwards Jr. scored on another one-yard dive to make it a 42-24 final.

Taulia The Record-Breaker

A Maryland Terrapin is the Big Ten's all-time leading passer

Congrats Taulia! pic.twitter.com/J5OWeh154P

— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) November 25, 2023

• Tagovailoa set the record for Big Ten passing yardage in a career with a season-high 361 in the game, giving him 11,256 in his Maryland career. He broke the record on a six-yard pass to Jones with 1:16 left in the second quarter, giving him 11,167 following that play.
• On the Big Ten career passing yardage list he passed Purdue's Curtis Painter (11,163 from 2005-08), Minnesota's Adam Weber (10,917 from 2007-10) and Purdue's Drew Brees (10,909 from 1997-2000) on the all-time list.
• The quarterback holds the Maryland career records for passing yards, passing touchdowns (76), total touchdowns (87), completions (955), completion percentage (66.8),passing efficiency (145.9) and total offense (11,473).
• Tagovailoa moved to seventh in career passing touchdowns in Big Ten history with three in the game to give him 76 in his Maryland career. He passed Iowa's Chuck Long (74 from 1981-85). Next on the list with 77 is No. 6 Trace McSorley of Penn State from 2015-18.
• He also moved up to third on the career completions list in the Big Ten with 24 in the game, giving him 955 to stand third. He also passed Brees (942 from 1997-2000) on this list. Next on the list are No. 2 Painter (987 from 2005-08) and No. 1 Northwestern's Clayton Thorson (991 from 2015-18).
• On the Maryland single-season lists, with his 2023 season Tagovailoa is now:
  • Third in single-season touchdowns with 25 behind only his mark of 26 set in 2021 and Scott Milanoich with 26 in 1993.
  • Fourth in single-season passing yards (3,377). Tagovailoa is also first on the list with a school-record 3,860 in 2021 and fifth on the list with 3,008 in 2022. No. 3 on the list is John Kaleo with 3,392 in 1992.
  • He now holds the first (328 in 2021), second (290 in 2023) and fifth (262 in 2022) marks on the single-season completions list. On Saturday, he passed Scott Milanovich (279 in 1993) and John Kaleo (286 in 1992).
• With 12 career games with a passing and rushing touchdown, Tagovailoa has the most among all active Big Ten quarterbacks.
• This is the fourth game this season in which Tagovailoa has a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, his second consecutive season with four such games. The only Maryland players since 1996 with more such games in a season are C.J. Brown, who had seven in 2013, and Shaun Hill, who had five in 2001.
• Tagaovailoa's 15th career 300-yard game is tied for sixth among all active FBS quarterbacks.

Big First Half!

• Maryland scored 28 first-half points, equalling its third-most in a first half against a Big Ten team since joining the conference in 2014. The most was 35 vs. Rutgers in 2014, followed by 29 vs. Purdue in 2016. Maryland last scored 28 points in a first half of a Big Ten game in 2020 at Penn State.
• The Terps scored touchdowns on their first four possessions of a game for the first time since scoring on the first five possessions against Charlotte last season (Sept. 10, 2022). It was the first time in Big Ten history Maryland scored touchdowns on its first four possessions.
• Maryland scored 21 points in the first quarter, the fifth time this season the Terps had 21 in a quarter, with the last being the first quarter against Indiana on Sept. 30.
• Maryland also scored 21 points in the first quarter in the 2023 season opener vs. Towson.
• Maryland scored touchdowns on its first three possessions for the second time this season, also doing it against Michigan State.
• Individually, Tagovailoa's 198 passing yards in the first half are his most against a Big Ten opponent all-time, passing his 246 vs. Penn State in 2020. Overall, his most is 305 vs. Charlotte in 2022.

Jones In The Record Books

• Jones became the eighth Terp in history to record 2,000 career receiving yards with 70 in game, giving him 2,000 in his career.
• Jones is eighth in career receiving yards. Next on the list are No. 7 Dontay Demus (2,008 from 2018-22), No. 6 DJ Moore (2,027 from 2015-17) and No. 5 Geroy Simon (2,059 from 1993-96).
• Jones remained in a tie for fifth in career receptions with four catches in the game, giving him 146 in his career. He is tied with DJ Moore (146 from 2015-17).
• With four catches today he now has 54 catches for the season, ranking tied for 12th for most in a single-season in Maryland history, wth Geroy Simon (1995) and Stefon Diggs (2012).
• Jones also stands 14th on the single-season receiving yardage list with 70 yards in the game, giving him 747 on the season.

We love No. 6

The eighth Terp to ever reach 2,000 career receiving yards! pic.twitter.com/MmfNQcWVJ7

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) November 25, 2023

Felton's C-Note

• Felton had his second career game with 100-plus receiving yards with 140 in the game. He set his career-high with 134 against Indiana back on Sept. 30, 2023.

Defensive Highlights

• Dante Trader piled up a career-high 11 tackles, his previous career-high was 10 at Penn State on Nov. 12, 2022.
• Glendon Miller had his third interception of the season, coming in the fourth quarter. That was Maryland's 15th interception this season, second to Michigan (16) in the Big Ten.
• The 15 interceptions this season are the most since the 2018 season, when Maryland had 18 INTs.
• Tommy Akingbesote recorded his first sack of the season and third of his career, late in the third quarter.

Notes & Nuggets

• The Terps had double-figure pass catchers for the fourth game this season. That is tied for the most among FBS teams in the nation this season.
• Maryland now has 12 offensive plays of 40 or more yards with three against Rutgers on Saturday (11 passes and one rush).
• Felton's 57-yard reception was the Terps fourth pass of 50-plus yards this season.

Streaks

• The Terps have 18 games in a row when leading after the third quarter.
• Corey Dyches caught a pass in his 25th game in a row.
• Delmar Glaze has started 29 games in a row on the offensive line.

Up Next

• The Terps will learn their bowl, opponent, date and time when the bowls are revealed on Sunday, Dec. 3. This will mark the third year in a row that Maryland will play in a bowl, the first time that has occurred since 2006-08. The Terps won the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl and 2022 Duke's Mayo Bowl. Maryland has never won three bowls in three consecutive years in program history.